AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



487 



_ Do not write anything- for publication 

 on the same sheet of paper witn business 

 matters, unless it can be torn apart without 

 interfering with either part of the letter. 



Bees Getting Along Finely. 



Bees are getting along finely so far. I 

 am wintering 57 colonies, and hope they 

 will do better this year than they did last, 

 which was a failure in this part of the 

 country. P. F. Zillmek. 



Boscobel, Wis., March 13, 1893. 



Worst Winter on Bees. 



We have had the worst winter on bees 

 that I can remember — nearly four months 

 without a flight. We shall have heavy 

 losses, as bees went into winter very weak 

 on account of no fall honey -flow. 



J. C. LiLLIBRIDGE. 



Port Allegany, Pa., March 18, 1893. 



Fine Prospects for 1893. 



I put 140 colonies of bees into a bee-house 

 last fall, and they have come through the 

 winter all right, not losing a single colony. 

 They have had a good flight since putting 

 them out. I never had bees winter better. 

 They are strong, and have plenty of honey. 

 The prospects are fine for the coming sea- 

 son. Last season they did fairly well. 

 From 55 colonies I increased to 140, and sold 

 4,643 pounds of comb honey. 



E. R. Wright. 



Davenport, Iowa, March 20, 1893. 



Btiilding Up Weak Colonies, Etc. 



As the time for building up weak colonies 

 is at hand, I wiU give a plan that I have 

 used for a number of seasons with gratify- 

 ing results. The plan usually given is to 

 take a comb of brood from a strong colony, 

 and give it to the weak one, but this is ac- 

 companied with too much risk of having 

 the brood chilled, should a cool night ensue 

 before a sufficient number have hatched for 

 protection. 



The plan that I like better is to cage about 

 a pound of bees in a cage such as is used in 

 shipping bees by the pound, and place them 

 in the side of the hive as close to the clus- 

 ter as possible, after removing the empty 

 combs. They should be left in the cage 4 to 

 6 hours, so that when liberated they will 

 have the same scent, as much as possible. 



Then after tlie flight for the day is over, 

 loosen one side of the cage next to the 

 combs, to let the bees out, and close the 

 hive at once to jjrevent the bees from flying 

 and getting lost. The cage can be removed 

 on the next day, and the operation repeated 

 until the colony has bees enough to carry 

 on breeding successfully. 



A prepared comb of brood may be given 

 at this time, with safety — that is, one that 

 was placed when empty between two popu- 

 lous combs of brood in a strong colony 21 

 days before, so that hundreds, and perhaps 

 thousands, of bees will hatch from this pre- 

 pared comb in the next 24 hours, and will 

 continue to do so for some time to come. 



Bees properly protected have wintered 

 well as far as heard from. I have lost 2 

 colonies out of 91, and one of those was 

 carried off and robbed of their honey on a 

 cold night, and the other was queenless. 



I am in favor of fighting adulteration 

 through the Bee-Keepers' Union. 



J. L. Strong. 



Clarinda, Iowa, March 13, 1893. 



Wintered Finely— Alfalfa. 



My bees have gone through the winter 

 finely, losing only one colony out of 56. 

 They are rearing brood fast. 



Is alfalfa clover a honey producer ? 



F. J. R. Davenport. 



Nash, Tex., March 18, 1893. 



[Yes ; alfalfa is a most excellent honey- 

 plant, and is found in great abundance in 

 several of the Western States. — Ed.] 



Bees Put Out Earlier than Usual. 



Owing to the water getting into my cel- 

 lar the last of February, I was forced to try 

 the experiment of putting my bees out on 

 March 2nd — about a month earlier than is 

 customary in this latitude. And although 

 we have had considerable winter weather 

 since then. I entertain no fears regarding 

 their safety. They gathered the first pol- 

 len (from maples) on March 12th, and seem 

 to be in fine condition. 



W. J. CULLINAN. 



Quincy, Ills., March 17, 1893. 



Experience with Bees in Virginia. 



I have been interested in bee-culture, in 

 connection with other avocations, for 20 

 years, but I knew nothing of the improved 

 methods of bee-keeping until two years ago, 

 when, by chance, I saw some advertisement 

 of bee books, papers, etc., and very soon I 

 was in possession of all the bee-literature 

 I needed, and I took no little interest in the 

 study of bee-culture. I must say that I 

 have gained much information from the 

 American Bee Journal, so full of practical 

 experience from enterprising apiarists. 



I have had many "side shows," as my 

 wife calls them, in connection with my 

 merchandising business, but bee-keeping 

 beats them all in the way of interest and 



